Vacation Food

We ate a lot of good food while on vacation.  Heather had planned out most of the dinner meals ahead of time and that enabled us to know what to bring from home to augment the rental's kitchen.  I brought donut pans, baking supplies, and my some of the spices my hubby tends to use.  We made huge shopping runs to the market over the bridge for fresh produce and dairy.

I tended to bake before breakfast.  The cottage really heated up in the afternoon, and I took advantage of the morning coolness to be in the kitchen.  While I baked, Heather made chai.  Yum.  On the morning when we were drinking the remnants from the night before, the late sleepers missed out.  I did not document the sad faces and slumped shoulders when they realized their loss.

One morning I made two batches of scones -- blueberry and chocolate chip.

Blueberry and chocolate chip scones

The first morning I made donuts.

The fruit makes it a healthy breakfast, right?

On the Wednesday of the vacation, Nedim was in charge of dinner for the extended family.  With help from Heather and Stan, there was a feast.  I forgot to take pictures of all the food before we dug in...but I managed a few of the aftermath.  The food was delicious and the company / lively discussions were just as fine.

Lots of 2nd trays and empty dishes

Can't see from here Todd and  Jen's homegrown grilled mushrooms.

Chairs set out on the front lawn.

The conversation groups kept shifting.

A break before dessert.

Ice cream buffet!

On of our last days, the men-folks trusted me enough to grill fake chicken patties and buns.  How hard could that be?  Not very -- and I even managed to turn off the grill by myself.

I didn't burn anything

And while I was out with the grill, Heather was whipping up some fruit salad.

Up close, Selim style

I'm so lucky to have an organized sister who can think and plan ahead for a crowd. There was room for everybody to contribute with prep work, cooking, grilling, or dishes detail.  We worked well as a family and enjoyed our meal times very much.  Back home, our dinner's don't have the flair that we enjoyed that week.